Goto Main Content
:::

Chapter Law Content

Title: Regulations Governing the Handling of Mail CH
Category: Ministry of Transportation and Communications(交通部)
Chapter Five The Transmission of Mail
Article 42
Mail items shall be transmitted by surface transport or air transport depending on the postage paid.
After an airmail item is posted for delivery, should it fail to be transmitted by air due to reasons that are not Chunghwa Post’s fault, Chunghwa Post may send the mail item via another fast method and the airmail postage paid shall not be refunded.
Article 43
There are two kinds of mail delivery zones: (1) zones where delivery is made to the address, and (2) zones where delivery may be made somewhere else.
Article 44
When the delivery address of any value-declared parcel, insured mail, COD mail or printed paper falls in a delivery-to-address zone, the post office shall deliver mail to the delivery address. However, if a mail item’s declared-value, insured amount or COD amount reaches a limit publicly announced by Chunghwa Post, or a total of over five kilograms of printed matters is addressed to a single addressee within a single day, Chunghwa Post may notify the addressee for a pick up.
The mail items mentioned above will only be submitted to the addressee after all payment due is paid, such as COD payment, customs duties, etc.
Article 45
Mail items that are going to be transported by a ship anchoring in the harbor or by its crew shall be handed over directly to the ship. When this cannot be done, Chunghwa Post may hand over the mail items to the organization or the company that owns the ship.
Article 46
Mail items that are going to be transported by either a domestic or a foreign warship anchoring in the harbor shall be delivered to an address designated by the ship’s captain. For mail items that are going to be transported by a foreign warship and a delivery address is not designated, Chunghwa Post may deliver to its embassy or to an address designated by the embassy.
Article 47
When a mail item is addressed to or addressed care of an institution, school, company, store, organization, office, etc. (hereinafter called institution or organization) or its person-in-charge, its employees or residents, then delivery shall be made to the address of the institution or organization.
When a branch office of an institution shares premises with its headquarters, mail items addressed to the branch office may be delivered to its headquarters.
When a mail item is addressed to an institution, the mail item may be delivered to the mail distribution desk or mailing center of the institution.In the event that the mail distribution desk or mailing center refuses to accept an item of registered mail, Chunghwa Post may notify the addressee to pick it up at the post office.
Article 48
Registered mails should be delivered to the addressee, the addressee’s agent, or a member of the addressee’s family that lives at the same address, or the mail distribution desk, doorman, or mailing center of the delivery address.
Registered mails may also be delivered through the smart devices exclusive for the sending and reception of documents or materials by the general public (hereinafter referred to as the “iBoxes”) that are set by Chunghwa Post on streets, in residences, in shopping malls, at factories, at government agencies, at schools, at the offices of public or private organizations, and at other sites which can be accessed by the public.
Article 48-1
A registered mail which meets any of the following conditions is not allowed to be delivered through an iBox:
1.The mail item is too big to be put in the iBox.
2.The outer packaging of the mailed item is damaged.
3.The occurrence of natural disasters or other force majeure causing damage or malfunction of the iBox, which prevents it from performing its functions.
4.The amount of a value-declared mail, an insured mail or COD collected exceeds the amount publicly announced by Chunghwa Post.
5.All the boxes of the iBox at the destination of delivery are occupied, and they are still occupied when the mailed item is delivered for the second time.
6.The mailed item is sent with an acknowledgement-of-receipt.
7.The mailed item contains any document or material that cannot be reproduced, copied or replicated.
The handling methods for the registered mails which are not allowed to be delivered through an iBox shall be publicly announced by Chunghwa Post.
Article 49
For addresses in any of the following areas, Chunghwa Post may choose not to make deliveries to the delivery addresses after a public announcement:
1.Deep in the mountains.
2.Lone islands.
3.Down narrow, winding trails over two kilometers in length that are not on regular delivery routes.
4.Residences or communities located in remote areas that on average receive less than 40 items of mail a month.
5.Other areas difficult to make deliveries to as a result of inconvenient transportation as determined by Chunghwa Post.
When there are concerns about domestic animals at a delivery address attacking mail carriers, and the customers at the delivery address have been informed but no improvements have been made to ameliorate the situation, Chunghwa Post may choose not to make deliveries to that delivery address and issue a public announcement to that effect.
Chunghwa Post shall determine how and where to deliver mail addressed to any of the aforementioned areas and make a public announcement to that effect.
Article 50
Any registered mail that could not reach the addressee after attempted deliveries to the delivery address and any registered mail where the addressee has been notified to make a pick up in accordance with regulations shall be conveyed to a designated post office branch for claiming. The above-mentioned mail items, if not claimed, shall be returned to the senders after a period of 15 days starting from the day after posting for claim.
Mail items as described in paragraph 2 of Article 24 of this Act shall be handled in accordance with the preceding paragraph hereof.
At the time of collecting a non-registered mail item, the claimant shall present the notice for claims at the designated post office branch. Chunghwa Post may ask to see ID when necessary.
Article 51
Chunghwa Post may notify the recipient to pick up parcels in the case of any of the following:
1.When the wrapping of the parcel is damaged and it is necessary to open it for inspection with the recipient present.
2.When the declared-value, insured amount or COD payment of the parcel reaches a certain amount.
3.When the recipient is required for customs clearance, or the customs duty is over the limit set by Chunghwa Post.
4.When there are other fees due.
5.When the parcel is over three kilograms and the delivery address is not accessible by vehicles.
Article 52
When Chunghwa Post entrusts others to transport mails, they must meet the following qualifications:
1. Land transport: The commissioned party must be in automobile freight industry, automobile route freight industry, automobile container freight transport industry, highway automobile passenger transport industry or railway freight transport.
2. Air transport: The commissioned party must be an air freight forwarder or in air transport industry.
3. Sea transport: The commissioned party must be an ocean freight forwarder or in shipping industry or a shipping agency.
When Chunghwa Post entrusts others to collect or deliver mails, they must meet the following qualifications:
1. When the person entrusted is a natural person, he or she has to be an adult, healthy and with a junior high school degree.
2. When the person entrusted is a postal agency, the agency’s manager shall meet the qualifications set forth in the preceding subparagraph hereof, and the postal agency should be located in an institution, school, company, store or other location that the public can go in and out of freely.
Article 53
In the event that the address of an addressee or the addressee’s agent has changed, mail items shall be delivered to the new address. Where the new address is in the same delivery zone, it is called redelivered; where the new address is outside the original delivery zone and hence the mail has to be forwarded to another post office branch for delivery, it is called redirected.
Article 54
“Postage due mail” refers to a mail item for which postage was not paid or was insufficient.
Unless otherwise stipulated, the postage due and accrued postage due charge shall be collected from the addressee.
Article 55
Postage due mail shall not be delivered before the postage due and the accrued postage due charge is fully paid. In the event that the mail item is returned to the post office of origination because the addressee refuses to pay the postage due and the accrued postage due charge or because it is undeliverable, the postage due and accrued postage due charge shall be collected from the sender; should the sender refuse to pay, the mail item shall be disposed of in accordance with regulations governing undelivered mail.
When a domestic postage due letter or postcard is returned to the post office branch of origination and the sender has paid the postage due and accrued postage due charges, the sender may apply for redelivery of the letter or postcard.
Article 56
“Undeliverable mail” refers to a mail item that cannot be delivered to or is refused by the addressee.
Domestic undeliverable mail shall be returned to the sender; if the cover of the mail item does not bear the name and address of the sender, it shall be returned to the post office branch of origination unless the sender has specified on the cover that return service is not requested.
Undeliverable domestic non-registered newspapers or magazines shall be returned to the origination post office and a notice shall be sent to the sender for payment of accrued charges and pick up at the designated post office branch within 15 days starting the day after the notice has been sent. Mails unclaimed after this period shall be disposed of in accordance with regulations regarding undelivered mails.
All undeliverable international mails, with or without the name and address of the sender on the cover, shall be returned to the country of origin. However, any postcard that doesn’t bear the name and address of the sender and any non-registered printed paper that does not specify a request for return service in a language used in the country of destination shall not be returned to the country of origin and shall be treated as undelivered mail.
Undeliverable domestic and international parcels should be handled in accordance with the instructions, if any, given by the senders on the parcels’ mailing forms.
Article 57
The following mail items that have been delivered may not be handed over to the post office for return:
1.Letter-post items which appear to have been opened.
2.Value-declared or insured mails.
3.Parcels.
Article 58
Any undeliverable mail or any mail for which delivery is prohibited by law that cannot be returned to the sender shall be posted for claim for one month. Any mail that is not claimed after one month shall be treated as undelivered mail.
If the sender has instructed to abandon or has specified no return service in case of non-delivery, the mail shall be treated as undelivered mail.
Article 59
Undelivered items of mail shall be opened for inspection and disposed of by a post office branch designated by Chunghwa Post. When the address of the sender can be obtained, the mail shall be put into a special envelope and returned to the sender; when it cannot be returned to the sender, it shall be disposed of according to the following guidelines:
1.In the event that the documents or materials inside are of no value or not saleable, the mail item shall be destroyed one month after it has been posted for claim, starting from the mailing date. If the contents of an item of mail are perishable, the post office may destroy them at any time it chooses.
2.In the event that the documents or materials inside are of value or saleable, and the mail item has been held by the post office for three years starting from the date of mailing and it has not been claimed, it shall be sold. In case the contents are perishable, they may be sold first and the proceeds shall be withheld for three years starting from the date of mailing.
With regard to any mail that is returned to the sender as mentioned in the preceding paragraph hereof, if it bears insufficient postage or requires an extra fee in accordance with regulations, the amount due shall be collected when the mail is returned to the sender.